"Keep the change." Today I want to tie that phrase to the whole idea of change. Life should not be static, but dynamic. Change should be a value in all our lives. We need to be constantly changing for the good. And when we do, we should, "Keep the change."
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in with three measures of meal, until it was all leavened." Three measures of flour! Do you know how much that is? About eighty pounds! This woman is not whipping up a couple of biscuits that weigh less than a canary. No, no. This woman is a baker!
It is easy to draw a circle so that some are inside and others are out--to look at the man with tattoos or the woman with many piercings, or the woman who didn't make it through high school and say that this person is just not like us.
“God bothering” is a sarcastic description of prayer that was coined as a nasty putdown. However, it seems appropriate when applied to this colloquy between Jesus and the Canaanite woman.
Have you parents ever imitated your child’s whiney tone of voice to show them how they sound? Have you ever spoken to someone the way they spoke to you in order to show them how harsh they were? That, I think is what Jesus is doing here.
I wonder if Jesus and the Canaanite somehow came to understand each other the moment they met. Such things happen in human relations. So perhaps it was with a smile and a note of humor in his voice that Jesus says what would otherwise sound offensive
A man feared death, so he made a bargain with the Grim Reaper to give him repeated warnings. One day, however, the GR came. The man protested, "You sent me no warnings." But the GR replied, "Your failing eyesight, your dimmed hearing, your gray hair! Were these not warnings?"
In keeping all the rules, the Pharisees thought they were the righteous ones; while, if there were anyone undeserving of God's mercy, well, it'd be this Canaanite woman.
Words matter--particularly gospel words. Jesus doesn’t “suggest” that the disciples go for a boat ride. He doesn’t “ask” them. He doesn’t even “tell” them. He MADE them get in the boat.
Jesus calls Peter to him and Mr. Enthusiasm jumps out of the boat and starts walking. But what happened next? Like his name, petros (or rock) he started to sink. And this is the ultimate example for us, I think. We are all very much like Peter.